Impact Stories from Professional Growth Policy Area
Fellow’s tech journey featured in national newspaper
Fellow(s): Madina Makhmadieva
Country: Tajikistan
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
2018 fellow of Tajikistan Madina Makhmadieva was featured in an ASIA-Plus article that chronicled her accomplishments in tech and her experience as a TechWomen Emerging Leader hosted at LinkedIn. As Tajikistan’s first-ever Scrum Master, Madina challenged herself to forge her own path, eventually applying to TechWomen: “I heard so many impressive and inspiring life stories that every time I thought, ‘If she could, can’t I?’”
Madina’s mentorship at LinkedIn taught her to support others as well as leverage her own skills to grow. Since returning home, Madina has been promoted to the head of the development department at Beeline, a telecommunications company in Tajikistan, and is helping support Tajikistan’s first TechGirls recruitment process. Since her feature in ASIA-Plus, Madina has received multiple job offers and is currently deciding which path to take.
Report Date...: 1/14/19
Fellow plans digital empowerment center in Cameroon
Fellow(s): Sophie Ngassa
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2014 fellow of Cameroon Sophie Ngassa has broken ground in Douala to launch her new inititiave, a digital empowerment center for women and girls. The initiative, currently called #GiftFromMum, began after Sophie’s mother gifted her land to pursue her passion project. The center will serve as a space where women and girls can acquire digital skills training, participate in STEM-based workshops and learn skills to generate income.
Construction for the digital empowerment center is in progress and will eventually house a workshop, kitchen and offices. Speaking about her vision, Sophie says, “Two years ago it was a conversation, last year it became a plan and this year it is work in progress. We make little steps every day.”
Sophie, a digital rights activist and high school teacher, founded a youth vocational technical training organization, Center for Youth Education and Economic Development, in 2010. She has also served as a mentor for Technovation Cameroon since 2014.
Report Date...: 1/14/19
Fellow accepted to Silicon Valley-based business incubator
Fellow(s): Zeina Sadeddin
Country: Palestinian Territories
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2018 fellow Zeina Sadeddin of the Palestinian Territories was accepted to the Ramallah chapter of the Founder Institute, a pre-seed accelerator that has helped launch over 3,500 companies internationally. The institute, based in Palo Alto, maintains chapters in over 180 cities around the globe. Their three-month program includes sessions in ideation, market research, revenue models, pitch decks, hiring and growth. Participants will also have access to Bay Area CEOs and investors who can support them with business development, public relations and introductions to outside advisors.
Zeina’s project addresses the local tech talent pool who seek remote work but lack networking resources. Zeina hopes to build an online cloud application to match local talent with experts in Silicon Valley who have remote positions available. Her online platform would assist the job applicants with resources and interview skills to increase their marketability and increase their job prospects abroad.
Report Date...: 1/7/19
Fellow named finalist for Women in Tech Awards
Fellow(s): Majd Hemiemat
Country: Jordan
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
Majd Hemiemat, 2014 fellow of Jordan, was recently named a finalist for Mentor of the Year at this year’s Women in Tech Awards Middle East. The awards aim to increase visibility of women leaders in STEM fields in in the Middle East, where less than 10% of the tech workforce is female.
The award ceremony, held in Dubai this March, will gather business and technology leaders from the region and feature keynote speakers who will inspire women to pursue careers in STEM fields and encourage diversity and representation in tech. Majd, a product manager at Intrasoft Middle East, is also an APMP certified consultant who provides training on proposal management, business writing and contract management to women entrepreneurs, local businesses and students.
Report Date...: 1/7/19
Fellow moderates panel on bias in the digital economy
Fellow(s): Janet Leparteleg
Country: Kenya
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Professional Growth
2017 fellow of Kenya Janet Leparteleg was invited to moderate a panel at Africa e-Commerce Week, an event hosted by the Kenyan government and organized by the African and European Unions. The week’s programming, held at the United Nations in Nairobi, was themed around empowering African economies in the digital era and brought together senior government officials, private sector representatives, civil society and international organizations to identify innovative ways to shape the African digital economy.
Janet, an assistant ICT officer at ICT Authority and a 2018 Mandela Washington Fellow, moderated a panel on minimizing algorithmic bias and discrimination in the digital economy. She and the panelists discussed current bias in job advertisement algorithms that show more high-paying positions to men than to women, countering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 5 that seeks to end gender discrimination. The panel also discussed solutions to minimize and prevent these issues, providing technical insights that can increase transparency and accountability and reduce unjustified bias.
Report Date...: 1/7/19
Fellow to launch tech curriculum in South African schools
Fellow(s): Lindiwe Matlali
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2017
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2017 fellow of South Africa Lindiwe Matlali, founder of Africa Teen Geeks, has announced a partnership with the South African Department of Basic Education to develop and implement a digital skills curriculum in South African schools. Lindiwe, a recipient of numerous accolades for her work, will develop a robotics and coding framework that will scale throughout the country over the next five years.
Lindiwe is partnering with City University of New York to develop a curriculum that is not dependent on computer and internet infrastructure, allowing it to be implemented in a greater number of schools across the country. She will also be supported by the network she built during TechWomen, including a connection from Autodesk’s Impact Design Workshop who will focus on developing a curriculum based on innovation.
Lindiwe will also build an online platform that trains South African teachers and provides interactive resources about the coursework. Moving forward, Lindiwe hopes to bring her coding and robotics curriculum to the greater African continent: “We want to inspire the next generation of Africa’s innovators and entrepreneurs,” she says. “We have to teach our children how to innovate as early as possible.”
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Mentor(s): Shakhina Pulatova (mentor)
Company: LinkedIn
Mentor Type: Professional
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth
TechWomen mentor Shakhina Pulatova recently returned from her travels to Uzbekistan, where she delivered lectures and presentations to university students and women in tech fields. Shakhina collaborated with TechWomen fellows who invited her to speak at various venues throughout Tashkent during her sabbatical from work at LinkedIn. At an event coordinated by Women TechMakers Tashkent, Shakhina spoke to students about entering tech fields and the importance of developing core skills in the rapidly changing job market.
Shakhina also delivered guest lectures at Westminster International University and Inha University about online identity, reputation and product management for students majoring in business information systems, computer science and computer engineering. “I was truly impressed with the enthusiasm, curiosity and eagerness of the next generation to learn and contribute,” she says. “This gives me hope for the tech future in Uzbekistan.”
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Fellow hosts Africa Science Week in Cameroon
Fellow(s): Arielle Kitio
Country: Cameroon
Cohort: 2016
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Empowering Women and Girls, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
2016 fellow of Cameroon Arielle Kitio recently organized a week of lectures, panels and hands-on activities during Next Einstein Forum’s Africa Science Week Cameroon. Arielle, a Next Einstein Forum ambassador, is responsible for driving NEF’s public engagement activities in Cameroon.
Africa Science Week, a weeklong celebration of science and technology, is held in 13 countries throughout the African continent. In Yaoundé, Arielle organized a week of activities meant to inspire the next generation through coding workshops, panels on artificial intelligence, solar energy seminars, hackathons and more. She partnered with local educators, entrepreneurs and makers to deliver programming to both primary schools as well as local universities.
Report Date...: 12/31/18
Fellow named Woman of the Year in digital technology
Fellow(s): Ines Nasri
Country: Tunisia
Cohort: 2014
Policy Area(s): Economic Impact, Empowering Women and Girls, Entrepreneurship, Professional Growth
2014 fellow of Tunisia Ines Nasri was named Woman of the Year in the digital technology category at the first ARVEA Women Awards held recently in Tunisia. The awards honor Tunisian women who inspire and encourage others to be bold, successful and follow a path of innovation. The jury was led by Tunisia’s former Minister of Culture and comprised leading women entrepreneurs, researchers and tech experts.
Ines is the founder of WebPower Tunisie, a recognized Tunisian digital web agency specializing in web and social marketing, web development and brand content. In a guest blog written shortly after her TechWomen experience, Ines described starting WebPower with limited resources and nearly no budget. Participating in TechWomen helped develop her leadership skills, making her a better communicator and more effective manager. “I came back from Silicon Valley with a HUGE amount of energy and felt empowered and so optimistic,” she wrote.
In addition to WebPower, Ines founded Tunisia Digital Day, an annual digital marketing event that brings together professionals, students and businesses to raise awareness about opportunities in technology fields.
Report Date...: 12/24/18
Fellow named first runner up at South African Youth Awards
Fellow(s): Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye
Country: South Africa
Cohort: 2018
Policy Area(s): Education Diplomacy/Mentoring, Professional Growth, Youth Engagement
Dr. Tozama Qwebani-Ogunleye, 2018 fellow of South Africa, was named first runner up at last week’s 2018 South African Youth Awards. Organized by the National Youth Development Agency, the awards recognize individuals aged 35 and under who are contributing to the South African community through empowering young people and encouraging the public and private sectors to contribute to youth development.
Tozama was nominated in the Academia category and was recognized for her work as Project Director at Vaal University of Technology. “Being a 2018 TechWomen fellow was an advantage for me to make it to the finalists,” she said. Before starting TechWomen program, Tozama wrote a guest blog post on her journey, challenges and path to TechWomen 2018.
Report Date...: 12/24/18
